Advice, Freely Given

In the course of my work day, I'm often asked for advice, on so many different matters. I've learned the art of b.s. fairly well, though - Really! - I usually try to give my best.
I've found that a lot of people don't really want advice - they just want to tell me how hard they have it while I give them figurative pats and tell them they are Oh So Burdened! I'm getting pretty good at that.
While sometimes, often, I want to jump in and fix things for them, tell them what to do, that usually isn't what is needed. Sometimes while in the course of a long recitation of woes, I realize - they really don't want things to change. They want to keep doing what they are doing and getting the same results. "I have to pre chew his food for him or he won't eat anything!' Is that the opposite of insanity?? I'm not sure.
I've gotten a few pat phrases down that I haul out when asked for advice. My favorite was blatently stolen from a popular talk show host "and how's that working for you?" And about 99% of the time I get one of two answers, either "just fine" or "its not". Then I know how to procede.
Too many people worry way too much. "Is this right?" "Can I do that, try this?" My usual answer to that one is "He's your dog, living in your house, you get to pick." Which makes sense, no one raises their kids alike, no one's house is exactly like another's. We are all different. Along those lines I also say "if its not broke, don't fix it." Which seems to relieve some anxiety, for some reason. "Oh, it IS working......."
Another phrase I use fairly often is "Stop doing that." Which is used when people tell me "when I do this, he does that". Or the one that goes along with it "don't let him do that anymore."
And then of course there is my favorite phrase when confronted with a long winded whiner "Its time for class, I've got to go!"